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Marks Inc. (formerly Pope Partners Inc.)
August Marks
"Rise to it brother. With great power, comes great responsibility."
Played By: Billy Brown
The current biggest crime boss and drug kingpin in Oakland, formerly Damon Pope's number two. Even more bloodthirsty than his former boss yet somehow more polite, he has no qualms doing what is necessary to get his point across. He worked for Pope since the age of 17, showing a long term affiliation to him and complete devotion, and took over Pope's position of power after his demise.
- Badass Boast: "Pope made his bones by being the smartest brother on the streets. I made mine by being the deadliest."
- Bald of Evil
- Best Served Cold: A strong advocate of this. It's what Pope taught him, after all. Unfortunately for him and everyone else, Jax refuses to listen.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With Henry Lin, Charles Barosky, and arguably Gemma Teller Morrow in Season 7.
- Black Irish: When meeting with Malone he boasts/jokes that his mother's maiden name was McDuffy.
- Boom, Headshot!: A notable aversion; Jax fills him with lead seemingly just to prove his point.
- The Consigliere: To Damon Pope, until Pope's death.
- Consummate Professional: He refuses to let emotions get in the way of the business. This begins to cause friction between him and the Sons and Niners, as the two gangs would very much like to get revenge on those who wrong them.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Defiant to the End / Face Death with Dignity: He manages to combine these in his final moments. In stark contrast to Pope, he doesn't drop his dignity to mock, taunt, or insult Jax in any base way. He just stares him down with an epic Death Glare.
- The Dragon: For Damon Pope, who has been mentoring him since he was 17.
- Dragon Ascendant: Upon Pope's demise, Marks rises to take control of his organization and turns it into Marks Inc.
- Evil Sounds Deep
- Faux Affably Evil: He's very, very convincing at it, though. If it weren't for the scene where he laughingly describes how Laroy "cried like a bitch" while he dismembered him, he'd be listed under Affably Evil instead.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: Like his mentor, he presents himself in a professional, business-like manner.
- Mouth of Sauron: If you want to meet with Pope, you meet with August first.
- Number Two: To Damon Pope until the Season 5 finale.
- Nothing Personal: He tells Jax in no uncertain terms that if the Sons fuck with him, he will kill them all without hesitation. He knows he isn't as smart as Pope, he makes up for it by being more dangerous.
- Perma-Stubble: He always seems to have a slightly unshaven look.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Becomes this in Season 6 following Pope's death. He doesn't let emotion get in the way, he's makes practical decisions and he's very professional with Jax.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Oddly enough displays this with Jax during their partnership in the last few seasons. While Marks is willing to use far more horrific means of violence to achieve his goals, he also exercises caution and patience in order to not affect his other business dealings. Jax on the other hand is much more blunt with his violence but is also quicker to react to any perceived slights.
- Scary Black Man: His introductory scene has him showing off the body of a man he dismembered ALIVE to the man’s former subordinates.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Like his boss, Marks is always dressed to the nines.
- Undying Loyalty: See the trope directly below. Everything he is, he owes to Damon Pope, and he is nothing if not grateful for it.
- Villainous Friendship: With Pope, whom he admired and respected. He's on the verge of welling up when he tells Jax he has to make things right for the remaining Pope family. He also gradually moves into a tentative friendship with Jax himself: they're very respectful and reasonable with each other.
- You Are in Command Now: Following the death of Damon Pope, Marks takes his place as the biggest, most influential gangster in Oakland.
Damon Pope
"Finding the hidden advantage in an unfortunate circumstance. Using pain to take you to the next level. Those are the things that turn players into kings."
Played By: Harold Perrineau
The most dangerous gangster in Oakland. A seemingly powerful businessman on the outside, Damon Pope is a ruthless and calculating crime lord who has power over many black gangs and does not hesitate to use extreme degrees of violence to demonstrate his power, and to make things go his way. He distances himself from his illegal activities, as he does not want any of them to leave a trail to him. He goes to extreme lengths to ensure exact order in his operations.
- Affably Evil: Despite being a ruthless crime lord, he is polite, personable and seems to genuinely take a liking to Jax and was looking forward to do business with him.
- Best Served Cold: After his daughter is killed he takes his time planning out his revenge. He researches his targets and makes sure that nothing that happens can be directly linked back to him. He is quite unhappy when an underling's impatience forces him to start his plan early. He actually plans to keep Tig alive in prison and have him abused and tortured for years to come.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Of Season 5 with Clay Morrow.
- Boom, Headshot!: Via Tig.
- The Chessmaster: He is very resourceful and puts immense pressure on Jax and SAMCRO and even causes one of their members to be killed.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His entire motivation comes from the death of his beloved daughter.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: For a certain value of "good" anyway. He really thought Jax was willing to turn Tig over so he have him tortured. But Jax breaks his promise by saving Tig and then letting him kill Damon.
- Evil Mentor: Seems to see himself as this for Jax. Note how in almost every conversation they have, Pope seems to make the effort to drop hints and give advice on how to deal with situations.
- Expy: He could be seen as one for Frank Lucas; a highly intelligent crimelord with good publicity and ties to the community, who avoids flashy gangster-type bravado.
- Face Death with Dignity: Averted as he spends his last moment dropping his dignified, professional pretenses and calling Jax a "cracker bitch".
- Faux Affably Evil: He's pretty polite, even respectfully calling Tig 'Mr. Trager' as he burns Dawn Trager alive. He blurs this in with Affably Evil though, as he seems to like Jax at least. His professional demeanor being a facade is foreshadowed several times throughout the season when Jax becomes a little too demanding. This foreshadows his loss of composure during his death. Most obvious in the scenes where Jax meets him in the Season 5 finale. First Jax demands proof of intent from Pope in regards to his Charming Heights investment to guarantee the work contract for Teller-Morrow. Before Marks steps in, you can see him about blow his top at the audacity of this biker boy demanding something of him. The second time is when Jax demands Tig's cut before he's killed. Although he catches himself much quicker, you can still see him struggling to let it slide.
- Framing the Guilty Party: When he frames Tig and the other Sons for the killings they committed, he makes sure that the police are presented with two reliable 'witnesses' for each crime. Ironically, his murder is pinned on someone who had nothing to do with his murder.
- Friendly Enemy: To Jax. This is subverted at the last second, when Jax sets him up to die.
- Hero Killer: He is indirectly responsible for having Opie murdered.
- Karmic Death: Not only does he get Out-Gambitted by Jax in response to the above trope, he gets killed by Tig for the below trope.
- Kick the Dog: Ordering Tig's daughter to be burned alive while Tig watches. Although considering what Tig did it might be considered a Kick The Son Of A Bitch.
- Kill It with Fire: How he kills Tig's daughter.
- The Man Behind the Man: He's Laroy's benefactor, and a few throw-away lines early on in the season indicate that he's actually the man behind the man for most if not every black street gang in the region, not just the One-Niners.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: Pope likes to wear stylish business suits as opposed to the urban street clothes favored by his underlings.
- Oh, Crap!: When he is Out-Gambitted by Jax and is about to be killed by Tig.
- Papa Wolf: When his daughter dies, he:
- Has her boyfriend butchered for seeking revenge without his permission.
- Finds her killer's daughter and burns her alive.
- Forces the people associated to carry out his own plans after killing one of them and demands one be handed over to him after a certain point in time
- Scary Black Man: Like Laroy, he isn't physically intimidating, but he commands such power that people are afraid to even target him. The physicality comes from his right hand man, August Marks.
- Sharp-Dressed Man
- The Sociopath: He does love his daughter, and he is more forward thinking than most sociopaths. However, he has a complete lack of empathy, commits revenge in a cold, calculating way, and has a very inflated ego. Pope can burn an innocent girl alive as easily as lighting a cigar. This bites him in the ass as he is blindsided by Jax's last minute betrayal using Tig as bait, not realizing the emotional depth of Jax's need for revenge.
- To the Pain: As mentioned, he didn't want Tig dead. He wanted him in prison so he could presumably have him beaten and raped for the rest of his life.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Pope masquerades as a law-abiding, upstanding citizen of the community. In the season 5 premiere he is even seen buying ice cream for a group of children. This is hours after he burned Tig's daughter alive in front of the man.
- We Are Everywhere: Jax knows that Pope can easily order the black prison gangs to kill the Sons while they are inside and prepares accordingly. However, it does not cross his mind that Pope actually controls the prison guards.
- Worthy Opponent: He seems to consider Jax to be one; while he won't hesitate to remind Jax that they're no where near equals in terms of power and resources, he does compliment Jax on his intelligence and resourcefulness, as well as his leadership abilities, even going so far as to tell him that he has the potential to become "a king", in his words.
- You Have Failed Me: He kills Laroy Wayne for seeking revenge on the Sons without his permission.
The One-Niners
Laroy Wayne
"Don't give a shit about history, or respect. This is about business, old man."
Played By: Tory Kittles
The leader of the One-Niners, being the primary contact for SAMCRO. A major player in gun-running and the heroin trade, SAMCRO supplied weaponry to the One-Niners while initially keeping the Mayans out of the loop. In a deal with SAMCRO, Laroy agreed to keep the Niners restricted to Oakland as long as their "business arrangements" were kept in tact, though retaliation and bad blood was not uncommon between Laroy and SAMCRO.
- Bald of Evil: He keeps his head shaved bald.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: August Marks implies that he dismembered Laroy while still alive, offscreen. "The little bitch was screaming so loud, I kinda lost my shit".
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Laroy was first established as a major player in the very first episode, and was a recurring face since then. When his girlfriend Veronica Pope is killed by Tig, it looks like he has a revenge arc ready to be set up...but he's killed off between seasons and turns up only as a heap of body parts in the first episode of Season 5.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Veronica Pope, his girlfriend.
- Not So Stoic: Laroy is always calm while conducting business... except when everything goes to hell. Then he shifts into Tranquil Fury. He also screamed 'like a bitch' when August cut him up...although that's understandable.
- Pragmatic Villainy: See the quote below his image; Laroy is a practical man save for extreme circumstances.
- Sacrificial Lion: Laroy is killed off partly to establish just how powerful, brutal and dangerous Damon Pope is.
- Scary Black Man: He cuts a very threatening figure, not because he's particularly intimidating physically, but due to his power.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: He always seems to be wearing striped shirts.
- Tranquil Fury: Laroy doesn't shout or scream: he remains silently furious as he takes care of things.
Tyler
Played By: Mo McRae
A member of the One-Niners.
- The Dragon: After Damon Pope's death and Marks' ascension, Tyler becomes this to Marks. Up until Marks begins to interfere with the Niners ability to retaliate against the Mayans, at least.
- Lovable Coward: At first, pre-taking a level in badass. He's understandably a stuttering mess when August kills Laroy, then Darnell and declares him to be the new man in charge. It's easy to sympathize with him, since he's suddenly been forced into a new role he doesn't want that puts him in massive amounts of danger.
- Number Two: To Darnell, and then to Marks, for a while.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Like Laroy before him. Leadership of the Niners apparently comes complete with purple-striped button-ups.
- Smarter Than You Look: He might not have expected to take control of the Niners, or even particularly wanted the position, but he turns out to be pretty good at the job once he settles in.
- Took a Level in Badass: Tyler becomes much more assured and confident once he takes leadership of the One-Niners. It really shows in Season 6 when he's seen calmly conducting business in a way that would make Laroy proud.
- Villainous Friendship: He's actually really friendly with Jax, and he is much more helpful to the Sons than Laroy ever was.
- You Are in Command Now: He replaces Darnell in the One-Niners structure after Darnell is killed.
Riggs
Played By:
- Number Two: To Tyler.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Killed in his sole appearance.
Darnell
Played By: B.J. Britt
The short lived former leader of the One-Niners, killed by Damon Pope's assistant, August Marks, after being set up.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Darnell has a tough time in his short appearance; his boss is killed, he's promote against his will and he's subsequently killed.
- Number Two: To Laroy, prior to his death.
- Red Shirt: He's killed by August to show that Pope isn't kidding around. Jax even lampshades it, who says that Darnell's murder is Pope sending the Sons a message that he decides who lives or dies.
- Unwitting Pawn: To Pope and Marks, who set him up for death solely to prove a point.
- You Are in Command Now: He replaces Laroy in the One-Niners.
